As a mother of a child on the autism spectrum and now a professional in the autism field, I am continuously struck by how little the “professionals” and the “decision – makers” really know about autism and its treatment options. Four years ago when my son was diagnosed, I too, as any new parent to autism, was scrambling around to find solutions and the best intervention for my child. I turned quickly to the professionals to seek the answers only to find that there were no definitive ones. How can this be? How can “they” not have all the answers leave me in a state of confusion and despair? I decided then and there that I was going to have to become the expert- and so I did. This is what I have learned.
The first thing that I always tell people whether they are a parent of a newly diagnosed child or a professional is that there is the good news and the bad news. The good news is that we know so much more about autism than we did even ten years ago. The bad news, however, is that there is still so much more to know and that we don’t have all the answers.
I’ve learned that they call it “The Autism Spectrum” for a reason. It is indeed a spectrum. True as it is for typically developing kids, no two kids on the autism spectrum are the same. They can range from a child who is seemingly so unconnected to the social world that it is excruciating for a parent to witness, to a child who, without a background in autism, no one would think he or she was affected.
